The present invention relates generally to liquid flow control and more specifically to the adjustment and control of a liquid flow rate using an inline liquid flow control valve to maintain a constant flow rate under varying incoming fluid pressure.
In existing manufacturing environments, an important element is the regulation of the flow of material, such as a liquid. Inline valve flow control systems allow users to effectively regulate the flow of a liquid within an existing system, based on the adjustment of the valve. Adjusting the valve therein adjusts the liquid flow rate.
The liquid flow rate is important for regulating mixing ratios in a manufacturing process with multiple liquids. For example, multiple inline flow control valves are utilized in an industrial environment using multiple chemicals. A resultant mix ratio is generated based on the adjusted flow control for each of the chemicals.
When a new mix ratio is required, existing inline flow control valves require significant modifications. Current systems require removal of the valve. As the flow control valve is inline, the pipeline is disabled and the valve is fully disconnected from the pipeline. The flow control valve is then manually adjusted and then reconnected into the pipeline. In one common technique, a fixed flow rate valve includes an internal set screw, wherein the internal set screw allows for the increase or decrease of a flow rate, within the range limits of the valve.
Upon reconnection, the pipeline is enabled and then the flow rate of the liquid through the flow control valve is measured. If the flow rate is incorrect, the process must be repeated until correct. Therefore, the pipeline is disabled, the flow control valve removed and reconnected and the pipeline re-enabled until the flow rate is correct. The current system is extremely inefficient. The current inline flow control valves also fail to include specific marking for adjusting the flow rate. Therefore, the adjustment process must be done by a “trial and error” approach until the flow rate is at the right rate, within a prescribed tolerance range.
The existing solution for inline flow control valves require extensive down time for a manufacturing system. If the system includes multiple chemical ingredients with a specific mix rate, the process if further complicated by the proper adjustment of all inline flow control valves for the multiple chemicals. Therefore, as manufacturing systems become more complicated, adjustments in various liquid flow controls become problematic. For example, urethane chemical mix ratios are becoming broader in range and the existing flow control valves are limited in flow range and ratio capabilities.
As such, there exists a need for an inline flow control valve capable of being readily adjustable within an existing pipeline.